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Tag: Foundation For Community Empowerment

It’s a bit long, 1 hour and 20 minutes to be exact, but this is the video you have all been waiting for. Full disclosure: it was provided by the Foundation for Community Empowerment, founded by Don Williams.

A week ago last Saturday morning, a lively panel discussion about the Fair Park proposal took place at Paul Quinn College. It was sponsored by the African American Leadership Institute and put together by state senator Royce West.

Michael Phillips (who you see, above) was the first speaker, and he immediately launched into his concerns over the lack of public input, the lack of public communication, and his fears that the real estate around Fair park could become the latest victim of what he calls “domestic colonization.” I think a lot of people worry about that.

“I’m concerned by the fact that this valuable piece of Dallas real estate would be governed by a board that could meet without any public record. It’s a private corporation, right? A private foundation,” he said. Great points. Then he said this:

What’s really going on with “gentrification” is domestic colonization. And when you have a colonial relationship, that is designed to be unequal. That is not equal. You have an imperial power that extracts wealth out of a colony. That’s land, products and low wage labor, and that’s what goes on with gentrification. And then the colonial power then sells products at a grossly inflated rate and rips off the people who live in the colony. That’s what going on with gentrification. I want to make this clear.

I see Phillips’ point, particularly because of the history of this neighborhood, which is terrible. But it was really terrible in a lot of places in the world in the early part of the 20th century, NOT just in Fair Park. And it seems to me that “domestic colonization” has been going on around Fair Park for a long time. Few residents own their own homes, most are tenants. A cursory search on MLS shows few homes even for sale in this area.

Which is why I think there is still a fighting chance for the people of this neighborhood with the right plan, a neighborhood park, and some help with home ownership. (more…)

One of the architectural gems in Dallas is Fair Park, a 277-acre recreational and educational complex southeast of downtown Dallas. It is home to many George Dahl-designed Art Deco buildings constructed for the Texas Centennial Exposition in 1936, and is registered as a Dallas Landmark and National Historic Landmark.

Mark Lamster

But this park, home to the Texas State Fair each fall, is underperforming the rest of the year.

The next Dallas Architecture Forum event will address “Making Fair Park Work,” a panel discussion moderated by Dallas Morning News architecture critic Mark Lamster, who is also a professor in the College of Architecture Planning and Public Affairs (CAPPA) at the University of Texas at Arlington.

The main question will be, “how can Dallas transform Fair Park into a year-round destination and economic engine for its South Dallas area?” The city is now faced with several options for its redevelopment, and must choose the best path forward.

“The Dallas Architecture Forum is pleased to present this next panel in its 2015-16 series of thought-provoking panel discussions on topics impacting the citizens of Dallas both locally and globally,” said forum executive director Nate Eudaly. “Moderator Mark Lamster will be joined by a panel of well-respected community leaders to discuss this extremely important topic. The result will be engaging and thought-provoking discussions for our attendees.”

I think Joanna wrote this house up back in the spring perhaps, but I needed my modern fix today. What do I do when I simply must have modern? I toodle over to Miss Claire Dewar at Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s and see what’s happening.

This goddess at 4610 Wildwood was built by former Trammel Crow exec J. McDonald Williams. Williams, who was once the chairman of Trammel Crow Company and founded the Foundation for Community Empowerment and the J. McDonald Williams Institute at the University of Texas at Dallas, hired Bodron+Fruit Architecture, Mesa Landscape Design, and contractor Elite Homes by John and Stephen Hardy to construct 4610 Wildwood Road in 2009. And oh construct they did. This masterpiece of contemporary architecture was built in synchrony with the surrounding Bluffview environment. Boasting Cottonwood limestone, mahogany, and copper exteriors, rift cut white oak and Gascoigne marble floors, custom cabinetry, an expansive library, a marble-clad Rumford fireplace, and 14-foot ceilings, the interiors are stunning and actually cool me down a few degrees on this oh so warm day.

This home has just under 7,000 square feet, three bedrooms, three and two half baths, four living areas, on 1.3 acres. As you can imagine, the floor plan is composed of large, open spaces with near seamless connections to the exteriors. But the home feels most inviting. Maybe it’s the 5000 volume library, the great room, Bulthaup kitchen with abundant storage and wood cabinetry, floating cabinets, the easy, spacious den, screened porch, a ground level master suite with office which is the best thing since sliced bread, the most luxurious master bath in the city, long lap pool, cabana, two guest rooms and a place for everyone to keep their weight whittled down: the exercise room.

The price is $9, 750,000. This is one that any mortgage company would be proud to have not just in their mortgage pool, but in their vault!